I kissed Shannon’s cheek, her hazel eyes twinkling. “How was dance class?”
“I got a part in the recital!”
“Oh yeah?”
“I’m a dancing tree!”
“Awesome, my little ballerina. You’ll be the best tree ever.” She loved to dance, although she wasn’t very coordinated. We encouraged her, nonetheless, and would be there to applaud her waving of her twigs or whatever a dancing tree did on stage.
“Munchkin, how’s the arm?” I asked Lucy. She’d been fitted with a prosthetic recently that was pretty amazing. The fingers moved and bent, and it looked realistic. The wrist flexed. She had finally decided she wanted to try one, and I had been all too happy to encourage it. It would have to be replaced as she grew, but I was pleased she wanted to try. At ten, she was growing so fast. We were best buds, and I adored her. She was smart and funny and still looked so much like me, it was uncanny. No one thought she was anything but my biological daughter, and I rarely disabused them of that idea. She simply was my daughter, no matter what sperm had created her.
“Daddy,” she said, her eyes sparkling. “I caught a ball yesterday.” She held up her arm. “With Robby.”
I grinned and high-fived “Robby.” She had nicknamed her arm. “Awesome.”
I lifted Erin, kissing her chubby little cheek. She was tiny and sweet. The quietest of the bunch. She looked like Paige, with her dark hair and blue eyes. “How’s my little bee?”
She buzzed everywhere. She was always in the garden around the flowers, happiest when digging and planting. In the house, she had a window garden I’d made for her that she tended daily. She’d been two when she discovered plants, and since then, I couldn’t keep her away from them, not that I tried hard. At three, she loved everything about flowers and was with me as often as possible when I worked around the grounds.
“Good,” she lisped. “Momma bots me new flowas. You hep me?”
I bit back my laughter. No doubt they’d been in town and Erin had spotted some pretty flowers she had to have. Or half-dead ones she wanted to “fix.” Paige rarely said no to buying her plants—no matter their condition.
“Yes, Daddy will help. I’m gonna have coffee with Grammy, and then we’ll plant them, okay?”
“Otay.”
“Go back to PopPop.”
I high-fived my dad and headed to Mom. I kissed her cheek and sat down, accepting the cup of coffee she offered me. “Where’s Paige?”
“She had errands. She asked us to sit with the girls. She said you’d worked late the last couple of nights and were exhausted.”
I grinned. “And sore. I’m not used to it anymore. But it’s done, the building opens today, and the grounds look spectacular. Joanna is going to send me some pics today when she’s there.” I yawned. “Paige let me sleep in. I don’t usually do that.”
“You needed it.” Mom smiled.
“Guess so. How long has Paige been gone?”
“She’ll be home soon.”
“What kinds of errands?”
Mom shrugged. “Ones she had to do. I didn’t ask.” She smirked. “She’ll be home soon, Liam.”
The sound of an engine coming close filled the air. “There she is. Go help her with the bags, and I’ll go make the girls a snack. Your father will be hungry too.”
I laughed as I headed to the front of the house. Paige sat behind the wheel of the SUV I had bought her. She looked contemplative but waved when she saw me. I opened her door and she slipped out. I kissed her hello, smiling against her mouth. “Hey, Sweet Pea.”
“Hi.”
I opened the trunk, surprised to see no bags. I checked the back seat, but it was empty. “Didn’t find what you were looking for?”
“What?”
“Mom said you had errands. I assumed the grocery store or some other place that involved bags.”
“No,” she said, distracted. She stood still, not moving toward the house. Her fingers fidgeted with the strap of her purse, a sure indication she was nervous. Something was up. I could feel it.
“Paige.”
“Hmm?”
“Where were you?”
She frowned. “What?”
I stepped closer, cupping her face. “What’s going on?”
She sighed and leaned into my touch.
“Baby, you’re scaring me a little,” I confessed. “You seem out of sorts.”
“No,” she whispered. “Not out of sorts. Shocked.”
“Shocked? By what?”
She lifted my free hand and pressed it to her stomach. “Your damn fertilizer worked again.”
I blinked. Looked down. Glanced up. Looked down again. After Erin was born three years ago, we tried for a fourth. Nothing happened. After a while, we decided we had three healthy girls and should be content, so we let it go. Was Paige saying what I thought she was saying?
“You’re pregnant?”
She nodded. “I thought I was gaining weight. I thought I was having my period at first, but that wasn’t what it was. Then we’ve been so busy, I forgot. I’m almost three months along, Liam.”